


what will you die for

by orphan_account



Category: Assassin's Creed
Genre: Alternate Universe - Dystopia, Alternate Universe - World War II, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-09
Updated: 2016-08-22
Packaged: 2018-07-11 03:34:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,566
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7026868
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"I knew your father, Ezio. And your brother. This place, it's a safe haven from the government. All the undesirables of society, the ones they didn't catch, we're all here. I'm sure you've realised by now that there's something wrong with the government officials. People aren't supposed to be constantly living in fear, constantly worrying that one false move will see them imprisoned for the rest of their life, for things they can't help. Your father saw what was wrong, and he sought us out. He was one of us, working towards the goal of liberation."</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Ezio

**Author's Note:**

> what if germany won wwII?

_Zone 6, Block 14, Building 2. Zone 6, Block 14, Building 2. Zone 6, Block 14, Building 2. Zone 6, Block 14, Building 2._

Ezio repeated the address to himself as he walked down the cold, dark streets. Silently, he berated himself for not bringing a warmer coat, but he was already running late, and all reason had left his mind when he bolted for the door. He kept his head down as he walked, careful not to let any cameras catch a glimpse of his face. Curfew wasn't in effect yet, but it was only a matter of time, and he didn't have a watch to keep track.

There was only one other time he had been outside after curfew, and it had ended with him being chased down narrow alleyways and finishing in a rooftop garden, waiting for the SS to pass. The first time, Claudia had been sick and desperately needed medicine. Tonight, however, there was no excuse. SS Officers didn't tend to listen even when there was a legitimate reason anyway, so Ezio had very little hope of escape if one of them were to catch him now.

Turning a corner onto Block 12, Ezio jumped when the siren indicating the beginning of curfew began. He broke into a run, ignoring how slick the stone beneath him was, desperate to make it before the siren finished. 

_You're an idiot, stupid, stupid mistake. Who's going to take care of Claudia? Who's going to help your mother? You're the last person they have left, you stupid, stupid idiot._

Block 13 loomed ahead just as the siren cut off, Ezio's footsteps echoing off the empty roads. He was close, so close to being safe he could almost cry. The cameras were most definitely watching him now. He didn't know how they work, didn't know who gets the footage, he could only hope that it didn't go straight to the SS.

Now on Block 13, Ezio's eyes darted wildly, trying to find the quickest way to Block 14. An alleyway to his left looked like it cut straight through the middle of 13, but he'd had a bad experience with shortcuts before. Sometimes, the SS weren't the worst people roaming past curfew.

Ignoring his instincts, Ezio headed down the alleyway, slowing to a walk. The switchblade in his pocket felt ten times heavier. It was a stupid risk to carry one, especially since the SS  _always_ searched those they caught, and carrying a weapon is grounds for immediate imprisonment; but Ezio couldn't leave the house without it. It had once been his father's, something he had given to Ezio the day he was taken to prison. Bringing it was an impulsive, reckless decision that could very likely get him a life sentence, but only if he got caught. 

It was cruel really, the way it worked out. Ezio was nearly out of the alley, with Zone 14 in sight when he heard footsteps behind him.

"My, my, my, aren't we in trouble?"

It was all Ezio could do to keep from crumbling in that very moment. He didn't turn, just stopped dead in his tracks, praying to any deity listening to help him.

"You would think," a second voice said, "after nearly forty years of there being a curfew, that people would stop breaking it?"

"I guess people just never learn."

"What're you doing out so late, boy?"

Ezio swallowed hard, still not turning. "Please, I'm nearly home, I just need to get to Block 14, I don't have a watch and I lost track of time."

The second SS Officer grunted. "Hear that, Vieri? He doesn't have a watch."

"I fail to see how that's our problem," 'Vieri' said smugly.

Ezio's mind worked frantically, trying to work out what to do, when two silhouettes turned down the alleyway in front of him. He ducked his head quickly, pulling his hood further down. 

"Boys," Vieri said, "search him."

Without much of a warning, the second SS Officer grabbed Ezio from behind, holding his wrists, while the two in front made their way towards him slowly, menacingly. Ezio wanted to struggle, he wanted to kick at the knees of the Officer holding him, but he could barely focus past the all encompassing fear that gripped him.

"Please," he almost begged, "I just live a few meters away, please let me go."

One of the SS in front of him pulled back Ezio's hood, and a look of surprise flickered across his face. "Vieri, look."

Vieri came into view, a shortish man with greasy black hair and what looked to be a permanent smirk on his face. He looked familiar, but not in a way that was instantly recognisable. Like Ezio saw him once in passing, or someone who looked like him.

"I'll be damned. It's like looking straight at Giovanni's ghost."

At the mention of his father, Ezio's blood ran cold. Images in his mind fought for attention, the conspiracy, the trial, the public execution. Federico holding him tightly, his face emotionless while Ezio cried. Petruccio's disappearance, Maria's descent into depression and her inability to speak or leave her room.

His fear faded, replaced with anger. "How do you know my father?"

Vieri's smirk turned into a grin. "Well isn't this just my luck. Catching the other Auditore brother breaking curfew? Your family just doesn't know when to quit."

In one fluid movement, Ezio kicked back the Officer holding his arms and grabbed the switchblade from his pocket. Catching Vieri off guard, he swung his leg forward, catching him between the legs. The shock that froze the other two Officers wore off, and they lunged for Ezio. His knife sprung free, catching the first one on the arm, the sharp blade slicing through his shirt and skin with ease.

He reared back, howling and clutching at his bleeding arm, but the second one managed to get a punch in, connecting hard with Ezio's jaw before reaching for the baton on his belt. Ezio staggered to the side, and was about to lunge again when the Officer that was holding him got back up. His kick connected with Ezio hard on the back of his knees, causing him to fall to the ground and lose his grip on his blade, sending it spinning down the cobblestones. The Officer that punched him landed a kick in the same spot on Ezio's jaw, and Ezio cried out in pain.

He was hauled to his feet, hands pinned behind his back once more, and Vieri struggled up to face him, face contorted with rage. 

"You piece of shit, you're gonna pay for that. Any idea what the sentence is for assaulting an SS? For carrying a weapon? Being out past curfew? Not to mention you're the son of Giovanni Auditore, you're gonna be seeing your father again real soon."

Ezio's jaw felt dislocated, and his head was pounding, but despite the pain, he managed to spit blood in Vieri's face. He was rewarded with a swift punch to the stomach.

"You've got a mother and sister, don't you? Back home? Don't worry, we'll make sure they get seen to as well."

"Fuck you," Ezio spit out weakly, his body aching in defiance of any movement.

Vieri sniffed in distaste. "I don't think that's good enough though. We take you back, you spend some time in a grimy little cell and then get taken care of by a firing squad, all pretty standard stuff. No, we need to teach you a lesson."

An Officer handed Vieri a baton, and Ezio closed his eyes.

"I'm thinking we start with your torso, then move our way to your limbs, break all your bones. Hey, maybe we'll use that nifty little blade on you too, show you why those sorts of things are banned. It's gonna be a long night for you, little Auditore."

It was then that the beating set in. Repeated blows to his chest and torso that left him gasping for air. He wanted to black out, he hoped he did when the pain got to be too much, he hoped they'd go too far and accidentally kill him on the spot. All the while, his mind was back with his mother and sister. Claudia would wake up the next morning to a silent house. She'd search the rooms for hours, convinced it's some trick before she turned on the news, or worse, until the SS came to their door and kicked it down. Maria would be completely defenseless against god know what they would do to her. And it was all his fault, because of some stupid letter that was probably a ploy in the first place.

"Hold him up higher," Vieri demanded, "I'm going to break his legs."

The urge to vomit still hadn't passed, and the ground was spinning. Ezio felt disorientated, like every punch was hitting him further and further away from reality, but Vieri's words still got to him.

"Please," he managed, his lips cracking with dried blood. 

Vieri leant down, face to face with Ezio. "Is that begging I hear? Do you want to try again?"

Ezio didn't want to give him the satisfaction, but if he was talking, it meant his bones weren't being broken. "Please, leave my sister, and my mother, out of this," he said, his voice broken and labored, each word physically painful. 

Vieri grinned. "Don't blame me, I'm just doing my job."

"I beg to differ."

Ezio blinked in shock at the voice of a fifth person coming from above them. He would've lifted his head if not for the stabbing pain.

Vieri stood, seeking out the source of the voice. "Who was that? You're breaking curfew."

"So it seems as though all of us are breaking the law. I recommend you release that young man and maybe start running."

"I don't have time for this," Vieri muttered, before yelling, "show yourself!"

"I am giving you one last chance."

Vieri, obviously growing irritated, turned away from Ezio, looking for the speaker. "You're warning  _me?_ Do you know who I am?"

His threat was met with silence, the streets quiet once more. Vieri turned back to Ezio, his face unreadable. "Who was that?"

Before Ezio could say anything, a flash of silver flew before them, striking one of the Officers in the chest. Another followed immediately, slicing into his neck. There was a choked, gurgling sound of the man drowning in his own blood before he fell to the ground. After a beat of silence, all of them too shocked to move, Vieri exploded in anger.

"Who are you? Where the fuck are you? Get down here you coward!"

As if appearing on demand, a hooded figure dropped from the roof behind Vieri, and caught him around the neck when he turned. In one sharp movement, Vieri crumpled to the ground like a limp doll, his head twisted at an unnatural angle.

The Officer holding him dropped Ezio to the ground roughly, and lunged at the figure, the other remaining SS at his side. They were strong, but their movements were sluggish and unskilled in comparison. The one who had been holding Ezio ended up on the receiving end of what looked to be an extremely effective sword, while the other was taken care of by a blade that seemed to be as much a part of the hooded figure as his hand. The Officers dropped to the ground, one of them still alive and gasping helplessly.

Ezio tried to stand, not sure whether he intended to run or not when someone behind him helped him up, slinging Ezio's arm over their shoulders and holding him as gently as possible.

"Altair, he's badly hurt."

The hooded figure - Altair - made his way towards them, sheathing his weapons. As he got closer, it became clear that what he was wearing was designed specifically for stealth and combat. He was dressed entirely in black, with several straps holding the robes and weapons together. His hood covered most of his face, leaving only his mouth and chin visible.

"What's your name?" he asked, fingers brushing over Ezio's face, assessing the damage but careful not to hurt him further.

The streetlight at the end of the alley was becoming hazy, and Ezio felt like he was trying to swim through thick mud. The dizziness and nausea was back in full force, as he tried his best not to vomit on the guy who just saved his life.

"My father's switchblade," he said, before the world lurched dangerously and his vision went black.

 

-

 

"-any idea who he is?"

"He had no identification on him. Only a piece of paper with our address."

"Looks a bit like Giovanni, don't you think?"

"Altair said that when he dropped him off, said he's almost identical. I don't see it."

"You only met Giovanni once."

"Anyway, Giovanni's son got executed with him, didn't he?"

"Could have more than one son."

" _Or_  this is just someone who's been digging a little too deep where he shouldn't be."

Ezio tried to roll over, tried to face the voices, but his whole body screamed in protest. Despite how awful he felt, only a low groan escaped his mouth.

There was a scrambling of noise to his side, before someone was helping him sit up, and another was pressing a cup of water to his mouth.

Blinking his eyes open, Ezio was greeted by two teenagers who couldn't have been much younger than him. One was darker, with a messy mop of dark hair and features that made Ezio guess his family was from somewhere in the Middle East. The other was white, a girl with light eyes and dark brown hair. Neither of them spoke, both observing Ezio carefully as if they were waiting for him to make a sudden movement.

A few moments passed, Ezio drinking the water slowly before speaking. "Where am I?"

"You mean you don't know?" the boy asked incredulously before he was elbowed by the girl.

"Kadar, go get Altair."

Sending her a glare, Kadar turned on his heel. Once he had left the room, the girl turned back to Ezio.

"Altair said he had to be the first to talk to you. No offence, but we're not exactly sure whether we should trust you yet."

Ezio tried to shrug, wincing through the pain. "What time is it?"

"Nearly noon."

With a look of disbelief, Ezio attempted to get out of the bed, his muscles aching like he had been hit by a truck.

"Get back down," the girl said in a slightly exasperated tone.

"You don't understand, I need to get back to my family, they need me home," Ezio said, barely managing to stand. He was still wearing the dirty, bloodstained clothes from the day before, but whoever had put him to bed had at least managed to remove his shoes. His coat was hanging off the back of the chair, and he shoved it on. His pockets had been emptied, aside from his father's blade, sitting heavily in his left pocket.  _Remember to thank them for picking it up._

The girl looked like she was about to protest, when Kadar entered the room again, followed by someone who could only be Altair.

"Thank you Kadar and Lydia, you can go now."

Lydia shot Ezio one last smug look before following Kadar out.

There were a few seconds of silence during which Ezio stood by the chair, looking down at the ground like a child who had been told off, and Altair sat on the bed looking at Ezio, his arms crossed. Instead of the dark robes he had been wearing last night, Altair was dressed a simple white shirt and jeans. He looked a lot kinder without a hood covering his face. He had warm golden eyes, and darker skin, not unlike Kadar's. Ezio couldn't help but wonder how hard life would be for Altair, looking the way he did. He belonged to a part of society that was considered 'undesirable'.

"Can I ask where you're going?" Altair asked politely, breaking the silence.

"I need to get back to my family," Ezio said, hoping that his voice sounded stronger than he felt.

With a deep sigh, Altair looked down at his hands. "Ezio, do you know where you are?"

Ezio blinked. "How do you know my name? Who are you?"

"That piece of paper we found in your pocket, it had this address on it. However, you don't seem to have any idea where you are, so that leads me to believe you found the note somewhere. I know the handwriting because I've seen it before, it's Giovanni Auditore's. Considering the fact that you look like him, and the fact that your blade had the initials G.A. carved into it, I'm guessing your his second son, Ezio. He told us about you, he was very proud of his children."

Ezio gripped the back of the chair for support, turning away from Altair. "How do you know all of this?" he asked, trying to keep his voice from breaking.

"I knew your father, Ezio. And your brother. This place, it's a safe haven from the government. All the undesirables of society, the ones they didn't catch, we're all here. I'm sure you've realised by now that there's something wrong with the government officials. People aren't supposed to be constantly living in fear, constantly worrying that one false move will see them imprisoned for the rest of their life, for things they can't help. Your father saw what was wrong, and he sought us out. He was one of us, working towards the goal of liberation."

Roughly, Ezio dragged a hand across his eyes. "What do you want from me?"

Altair laughed, not unkindly, but in a tired way. "Ezio, you were the one who came to us."

Ezio turned around to face Altair, who was still sitting on the edge of the bed. He wanted to say something, to ask Altair what exactly it was that Giovanni did, why it got him killed. He wanted to ask Altair how many people he had here, what their goals were, what they intended to change. There were so many questions boiling under his skin after being exposed to this part of the world he never knew existed, but he couldn't ask. He couldn't involve himself in something that had lead to his father's death.

"I need to take care of my family," he said quietly, not meeting Altair's eyes.

"I understand," Altair said softly, rising to his feet. "But Ezio, you're always going to be in danger, you and your family. Your name is marked, your father's 'crimes' are yours to carry now. We can help you, we can offer you and your family safety."

Shaking his head, Ezio smiled bitterly. "And what, live our lives in the shadows?"

Sympathy flooded Altair's expression. "Is that much different from how you're living now?"

When Ezio didn't respond, Altair continued. "We have the resources to help you, Ezio. There are dozens of us, spread all through the Zones. We're preparing for something big, and we need all the allies we can get. Your father played a large role in helping us get to where we are, don't you want to finish what he started?"

Ezio stayed quiet. He wanted badly to say yes, to get Claudia and Maria and bring them here, keep them hidden and safe. He wanted to have a release for the anger inside of him. He wanted to hurt those who had hurt his family. But it wasn't that simple. Dragging his sister and mother away from the only home they had ever known to live in secret, he didn't even know if he would be able to get his mother to leave the house. If it was his decision alone, he would have done everything he could to carry out vengeance, but it wasn't just his life he had to worry about.

Altair sighed. "I can't force you Ezio, but I do have something to give you. Come with me."

Altair stood, walking out of the room without checking to see if Ezio was following. The bedroom opened into a large hallway, the walls stacked high with books. All the houses in Zone 6 had the same design, but this one seemed bigger, possibly built for a large family. The hallway opened out to a large living area, with several other people lounging on couches. Ezio spotted Kadar speaking to a man that looked incredibly similar to him, a man who raised his head when Altair walked in. 

They exchanged the briefest of glances, a thousand unsaid words passing between them before the man nodded, turning his attention back to Kadar.

"How many of you are there?" Ezio asked, following Altair into a small office.

The room probably wouldn't have seemed so small if it wasn't so packed full with junk. Desks and other odd bits of furniture filled the room, and the empty spaces between them were filled with more books, pillows, blankets, and clothes. Altair knelt down underneath one of the desks, opening a small safe that Ezio hadn't even noticed when they walked in.

"Here? Hard to say. This is one of our more quiet hideouts, it doesn't hold any of our more incriminating evidence. It's more of a quiet place for us to stay if we have something we need to do in the Zones."

Ezio frowned. "Why do you trust me with all of this? What's to stop me from going straight to the SS and telling them everything."

Altair stood back up, holding a thick journal in his hands. "You won't. You're Giovanni's kid, and I trust he raised a better son than that." He handed Ezio the journal. "This is everything Giovanni wrote about what we did, what we were planning to do. Towards the end, when it was getting more and more dangerous for him, he told me to give this to you when you came here. I'm guessing he left you the note with our address somewhere you could find it."

Ezio held the journal softly. He wanted to open it and look at his father's neat handwriting all over the pages, but he couldn't do it in front of Altair. "Thank you," he said quietly, not looking Altair in the eye.

"There's actually something I haven't told you, Ezio. Last night, when I found you, Before I dealt with the SS, I managed to take out the cameras; but it's likely that they managed to catch who you were beforehand. If you really don't want our help, that's fine, but you need to be careful. You're already in danger."

Ezio's eyes widened. "I need to get home, now."

"We can help you, Ezio!" Altair yelled as Ezio ran out of the room, bolting for the front door.

With a quick glance back at Altair, and all the others in the living room, Ezio pulled on his hood.

"Like you helped my father?" he asked bitterly, slamming the door behind him.

 

-

 

"Ezio!"

Ezio was ambushed by Claudia as soon as he walked in the door. She threw her arms around him, holding him tightly as he tried to maneuver himself inside and shut the door behind him. He returned his sister's hug, closing his eyes. The walk home had been one of the most stressful experiences of his life, throwing suspicious glances at everyone who looked like they worked for the government. Luckily, it was busy outside, hopefully no one had paid much attention to him.

"Where have you been?" Claudia demanded when she let him go, hands resting on her hips. Claudia's resemblance to Maria was striking - everything from her dark wavy hair to the way she stood - but they way she acted resembled her brothers, headstrong and stubborn.

Unwilling to answer her, Ezio walked past, into the kitchen. "Is mother alright?"

Claudia followed. "She's fine, she hasn't left her room. Ezio, where w-"

"And you," Ezio interrupted. "You haven't left the house today?"

Frowning, Claudia folded her arms. "Not yet, I was waiting for you to get back. Ezio, what's going on?"

Ezio's mind was racing. He needed to think quickly. Vieri had said his name last night, and it was only a matter of time before someone worked out that the four SS that had attacked him were dead. Finding his address would be easy for the State Security and Law Enforcement, and they would be knocking down the door soon. There was nowhere he could turn, except for back to Altair.

"Claudia, I need you to listen very carefully. Go pack a bag with everything you can't live without, then pack another one for mother. Do it as fast as you can."

Claudia's eyes widened. "What did you do?"

"Now isn't the time, I'll explain everything soon, but right now, we need to move quickly. Understand."

For a moment, Claudia looked as though she was going to argue, before she took a deep breath and looked Ezio in the eyes.

"I can't do this again, Ezio. I can't do another trial, another conspiracy. Please tell me this isn't to do with Dad or Federico. Please tell me you didn't try to get revenge."

"Claudia," Ezio started, but she closed her eyes.

"How much time do we have?"

Ezio looked down at his feet. He had failed at the one thing he promised his father he would do.  _"Keep them safe, Ezio. You're all they have now, promise me you won't let them get hurt."_

"I don't know," he admitted.

Claudia let out her breath slowly, like she was doing her best to keep it from transforming into a sob. When she opened her eyes again, they were wet with tears. "Why does this keep happening to us?"

Before Ezio could answer, she breezed past, making her way down to the room she used to share with Petruccio. Ezio braced himself against the wall, fists clenched and breathing heavily. It took all his self restraint not to punch a hole in the wall and scream until his voice gave out.

 _It's not fair._ _Why us? What did we do?_

After a few moments, Ezio pulled himself together, heading down the hall to his and Federico's room. His father's journal was shoved in his coat pocket, barely small enough to fit. Opening up a bag, he unceremoniously shoved some clothes in before he stopped to consider what he was doing. He had to go back to Altair, that was his only hope. From there, he could work out a safe place for Claudia and Maria to live, maybe outside the Zones somewhere. They could keep going, head away from New Europa and further East. There were rumors about some parts of Asia being a beacon of hope, somewhere out of reach from the Templar Republic.

Ezio sat down on his bed, pulling the journal out of his pocket. Mentally bracing himself, he opened it, the familiar sight of his father's handwriting greeting him. Giovanni had been well educated, successful. He wrote like and artist paints, with care and delicacy, concerned with not just appearance, but the meaning and message behind his words. Ezio flipped back to the first page.

 

**May 13th**

**Today was the first official meeting, and there wasn't many of us. Just Mario, Umar, and myself. Umar is in hiding, facing persecution for being a Muslim. He has a wife and son back home, but he can't afford to see them. He assures us that they are safe, but I don't believe him. Even if his wife is a Christian, his son won't be accepted well. But that's a battle for another day. For now, we are focused on helping those who are being targeted. I'm sure there are others out there like us, seeing what is wrong with the world, wanting to change it. I can't stand by and let more innocent people get killed. Not when I look at my family, and only want their lives to be free.**

**Federico turns eighteen soon. Maybe I should tell him about this. I don't know what puts him in more danger; ignorance, or involvement. Early days. For now, We need to stay focused on our original plans. Help all those we can. Mario has offered his home as a safe house for those who need it. It's a large home, it'll serve its purpose well.**

 

 

Ezio traced the writing with his fingers, as if the words somehow held the power to bring Giovanni and Federico back. The tidal wave of grief he had been repressing for weeks was coming back. So this is what his brother and father had lost their lives for, a way to help people who needed it. Ezio shoved the journal back in his pocket, now wasn't the time.

Along with the few clothes he had packed, Ezio slotting in the photo album he had taken from the living room the night after the execution. Next to that, Federico's high school jumper and Petruccio's small feather collection, which Ezio had transferred into a tiny ornamental box that Claudia used to keep her jewelry in before her collection got too big. They had lost a lot when Giovanni and Federico were imprisoned, but Ezio had made sure that Claudia didn't have to give up anything. Before he got a job, Ezio sold all of the expensive furniture his mother had bought while Giovanni's salary was more than enough to keep them afloat. After that, Ezio had been lucky to get a low paying job as a dishwasher in a local restaurant that was desperately low on staff.

He zipped the bag closed, throwing it over his should and running to check on Claudia, who was packing a bag for Maria.

"I can't get her to move," Claudia said, her voice and trembling hands conveying just how panicked she truly felt.

Ezio knelt down at Maria's bedside, trying his best to smile reassuringly. "We need to go, please mother."

Staring straight ahead, Maria blinked, like she hadn't even heard Ezio speak. Some days were better than others, sometimes she managed to get out of bed and take care of herself, but always with that lost, vacant look in her eyes. And she still hadn't spoken a word since the execution.

"We need to go," Ezio said urgently, grabbing his mother's hand and squeezing it gently. "Please, please get up."

He was about to resort to literally carrying Maria to the door when there was a crash down the hall.

Claudia dropped the bag, her hands flying to her mouth.

"Under the bed! Go!" Ezio whispered urgently. He reached into his pocket, silently relieved that his father's blade was still there.

Bracing himself in front of the door, Ezio lunged forward at the first sight of movement, praying that he could at least distract the SS for a little while.

The figure disarmed Ezio easily, pushing his arm to the side and knocking the blade to the side. Ezio was about to use his other arm to throw a punch, when he recognised his attacker.

"Easy, kid," Altair said with a smirk. 

Ezio blinked in shock, before anger took over. "What are you doing in my house?"

"You were being followed," Altair said, pushing past Ezio to assess the room. "Two SS, no uniforms, they stopped about two blocks back, probably calling for reinforcements before taking you in."

Ezio wanted to demand why Altair was following him, but it would have to wait. Whatever he wanted at the moment came second to getting his family to safety. "how are we going to get past them? My mother isn't responsive and they'll be looking for us."

"We're going to split up," Altair said, like the answer was obvious. "You and your sister, I'll take your mother."

"No," Ezio said firmly, "not a chance."

With a sigh, Altair turned to face Ezio. "Look, kid. We're running out of time. You two will be quicker on your own."

At that point, Claudia crawled out from under the bed, eyeing Altair. She turned to look at Ezio, who just gave her a slight shake of his head.  _Later_.

"They'll catch you," Ezio protested.

Altair smirked. "Even if they did, who do you think would be able to handle them better? Me or you?"

Ezio took a step forward, fists clenched. He looked like he was about to try and start a fight when Claudia cut in.

"For God's sake, Ezio, listen to him!"

Ezio threw one last desperate look at Maria before focusing on Altair. "If anything happens -"

"I promise you, Ezio," Altair said solemnly, "I will not let anything happen to her."

Silently, Ezio gave a curt nod. "Okay. Claudia, let's go."

As they walked out of the front door with the small backpacks and oversized coats, Ezio looked over his home once more. They needed to move fast, taking side alleys and not stopping until they reached the safe house, but Ezio let his hand linger on the door for a second longer. No matter what happened from here, he was certain that he would never be returning.


	2. Leonardo

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A note about the Frye's. I adore Evie and Jacob, but I also love Lydia. In order to have them all in the same story and in their prime, in this AU, Lydia is their cousin, not Jacob's granddaughter. I hope this doesn't offend anyone too much.

Travelling between zones was hard enough, let alone between entire countries with false Identification Papers, but sometimes, things couldn’t be helped. It wasn’t often that Leonardo was asked to travel out of Italy, but when he did, he was almost always with a partner. This time, he was alone.

He hated trains at the best of times, they were loud and uncomfortable, and reminded him too much of the trip he had taken to prison.

A lot had changed in the years since he had been freed, most notably, his appearance. Unlike Malik, the reason for his imprisonment had not been obvious by looking at the colour of his skin, so with a few changes, he had been able to re-enter the public eye. He had grown out his dirty blonde hair and restrained from shaving as much as he would have preferred, and paired with his new identity, the old Leonardo Fruosino had died in the rubble of the camp.

It was late when his train arrived, but the station was still busy enough that he wouldn’t draw attention. ID papers in hand, Leonardo kept his head down, moving quickly but unnoticed. Though he didn’t often leave the safe houses, he knew how best to blend into the crowds.

An Officer took a quick glance over Leonardo’s papers, obviously tired and bored. “Business or leisure?” he asked in a tone that said _I really couldn’t care less_.

“Leisure, visiting a friend,” Leonardo said calmly, though his heart was pounding in his chest.

The Officer’s expression may have been passive, but so were the faces of the SS Officers who dragged him from his bed and beat him down until he was left shaking and starving in a cell. The only expression he had seen was the one of disgust as his crimes were being read back to him by one of the generals.

It seemed as though everything was going to pass without incident when the officer frowned at the papers. Leonardo’s heart leapt to his throat and he averted his gaze so that the Officer couldn’t see the panic in his eyes. The papers were perfect, he had been working on them for over a year, studying other legitimate IDs and using all resources available to him to make sure there were no inconsistencies.

 _Don’t panic_ , he thought to himself, trying hard not to let the hysteria inside of him escape out of his mouth. _This is procedure, you’ll be fine_.

After what felt like a century, the Officer passed Leonardo’s papers back to him. “Enjoy your stay.”

Careful not to move too quickly, Leonardo smiled tightly at the Officer before continuing out of the station. It wasn’t until he was outside that he felt the ability to breathe again. Thankfully, the address scrawled in his notebook wasn’t far from the station, but his first priority was finding a payphone. He needed to hear a familiar voice.

Altair often said that finding Leonardo had been the best thing to happen to them, but Leonardo was inclined to disagree. Although he had helped them with technical and mechanical aspects, the amount of baggage that came with him wasn’t easy to deal with. He had been praised for his ability to keep their calls from being tracked, but he didn’t tell anyone except for Malik that it was because he needed to be able to keep in contact whenever it felt like he was going to panic.

His call picked up on the second ring, and Leonardo was flooded with relief when it was Malik who answered.

“Hello?”

“Malik,” Leonardo said quietly, trying to keep the desperation out of his voice.

“Leonardo,” Malik’s tone was soft, “you got there safe?”

“I haven’t visited yet, I just needed to talk to you.” Even though Leonardo was confident in his abilities in blocking the signal from the safe house’s phone, he kept his conversation purely innocent, nothing that anyone could overhear and find suspicious.

“But you’re okay?”

“I’m okay now, you know I get nervous when travelling.”

“You’re safe Leonardo,” Malik said, warmly, but forcefully. “It’s never going to happen to us again.”

Leonardo let his breath out slowly before continuing. “Okay.”

“Okay,” Malik repeated. “Do you think you can find them?”

“Should be easy, if what Lydia told us is true, then they aren’t very far away.”

“You’ll be back home before you know it.”

Leonardo smiled softly. “Thank you, Malik.”

“Always, Leonardo,” Malik said, before the phone clicked off.

Hanging the receiver back up, Leonardo pulled out his notebook, reading over the address again, unnecessarily. He was convinced that it was already permanently burned into his brain, but he didn’t want to take any chances.

 

-

 

The house was unassuming, a carbon copy of every other on the empty street. The man who opened the door, however, was the complete opposite of unassuming. He was tall, with a scars that did all sorts of favours for his appearance. His hair was dark, and the kind of messy that suggested he had actually put some kind of effort into it.

“Jacob Frye?” Leonardo asked.

The man in front of him smirked. “Depends who’s asking.”

Leonardo shot a glance down the basically deserted street. “There’s something I need to talk to you about, may I come in?”

The smirk on Jacob’s face didn’t falter. “No offence, love, but I don’t let just anyone into my home, no matter how sweet they look.”

Taken aback, Leonardo blinked. “I, I didn’t – look,” he coughed awkwardly before composing himself. “I mean, I need to talk to you about something … sensitive. I got given your address by Lydia Frye, she told us to mention something about the Rooks? I don’t-”

“Keep it down!” Jacob exclaimed, pulling Leonardo inside and shutting the door behind him. Gone was the cocky, confident smirk, replaced with genuine fear. “If you know that name, you’d know not to go yelling down the bloody street!”

Leonardo wanted to argue that he wasn’t yelling anything, but there was something about the mixture of anger and terror in Jacob’s eyes that made him stop. “So it’s true? You’re Jacob Frye, leader of the Rooks?”

Jacob turned to him. “Is Lydia safe?”

After Leonardo nodded, Jacob let out a sigh. “Yeah … yeah, I’m Jacob Frye. And who are you?”

Leonardo glanced nervously at the ceiling. “It’s safe to be talking here?”

Waving a hand dismissively, Jacob lead Leonardo into the dining room of his small house. “Yeah, we sorted out the bugs ages ago, couldn’t be running our operation if we didn’t.” He made his way to the kitchen counter, producing a tumbler and a bottle of whisky from the cupboard and pouring himself a drink. “So, back to my original question, who are you?”

Leonardo took a seat at the dining table. “My name’s Leonardo, I’m with a group of people in Zone 6, Italy. We’re a kind of,” he hesitated for a moment, “resistance group. We’ve mostly been protecting people from SS, providing a safe space for people targeted by the government, but we haven’t been making any offensive moves, yet. We need more people before we do anything like that.”

“And that’s where I come in?” Jacob asked, his face unreadable.

Leonardo shrugged. “From what Lydia told us, your Rooks seem to match up nicely with us. Where we have been providing safety and refuge, you can provide the practical resistance. What we’re doing now, it’s necessary, but it’s not a very efficient long term plan.”

Swallowing all of his drink, Jacob smiled bitterly. “Lydia just gave us up, huh?”

Leonardo wanted to point out that she had just been saved from several SS Officers who had something more on their mind than just taking her into custody, but he didn’t bother. “She knew she could trust us.”

“And that’s supposed to make me trust _you_?”

Glancing around the small room, Leonardo smiled. “Think of it this way, if we wanted to take you down, why would I have come here in the first place?”

Jacob ducked his head, smiling and shaking his head. “I guess you have a point, Leonardo,” he said, pouring himself another drink.

 

-

 

By the time Leonardo arrived back at the Zone 6 safehouse, Malik was already drinking. He didn’t do it very often, and it always meant one of two things, either he was celebrating something very, very good, or he was trying to forget something very, very bad. This time, Leonardo already knew which of the two it was.

“Happy two years free,” Malik said bitterly as Leonardo dumped his bag on the bed.

It was a delicate game, making sure Malik could get his catharsis while also making sure he didn’t hurt himself. The worst time was the first month they had after being free. Leonardo went through the expected motions – the nightmares, the fear, the distrust – until it all faded into a background of general anxiety. Malik’s recovery took an entirely different turn.

For the first few weeks, he stayed almost completely silent, barely speaking when spoken to, and locking himself away almost every day. He only trusted Leonardo to be near him, until that trust gradually extended to Altair. Altair had actually played the most influential part in making Malik feel safe. When they had first met, Altair was rough and arrogant, but he had softened into someone gentle almost instantly when he realised just what Malik had been through. But even after Malik broke his silence, there were still the highs and lows to deal with.

“It’s a good thing, Malik,” Leonardo said gently, sitting down next to his friend. He wanted to take the bottle from him, but didn’t know how to do it without offending Malik.

“Good thing,” Malik repeated quietly. “How many crimes did you go away for?”

Leonardo knew that Malik already knew the answer, he was just in one of his moods where he wanted to talk about the horrors they experienced, rather than lay them to rest.

“Two,” Leonardo said sharply, hoping his tone would make it clear he didn’t want to talk about it. No luck.

“Five for me,” Malik said with a bitter grin. “Affiliation with banned religions, affiliation with illegal immigrants, harbouring criminals, offense against the person, and sodomy. They give them all these fancy names to make it sound like they’re in the right. Could have condensed it all by saying it was because I’m brown and gay.”

“Malik-”

“At least it’s all out in the open now. People used to get killed on the street for the same shit, they just didn’t know when or where it was gonna happen. Now, at least we know why they’re killing us, know what our crimes are.”

Leonardo dragged a hand down his face. “Don’t do this to yourself, Malik.”

Malik took another swig from his bottle. “Do what? Talk about it? It’s been two years, Leonardo, for fuck’s sake. How long are we gonna pretend it didn’t happen?”

With a heavy sigh, Leonardo held his hand out for the bottle. If Malik was set on self-destruction, Leonardo at least wanted to be a little bit more drunk for the conversation. “I just don’t understand why you want to re-live it. Wasn’t once enough?”

“You’re not angry about it?” Malik asked, surrendering the bottle.

The alcohol burned going down, and Leonardo winced at the taste. “Not angry, afraid. Afraid for everyone else out there who didn’t get saved.”

Malik took the bottle back. “I’m angry, I want to kill the guy who put us in there.”

“Malik-”

“No, I do. I want to kill him. I know you’re big on forgiveness or whatever, but I want to kill him.”

They sat in silence for a moment, the alcohol warming Leonardo, but also making him sadder. He wasn’t like Malik, who could drink as much as he wanted and still remain unchanged – albeit a bit angrier than usual – he felt the effects much easier, becoming slow and tired.

“They took my brother, Leonardo,” Malik said softly, his head resting on Leonardo’s shoulder. “They hurt Kadar, and I couldn’t get to him.”

Leonardo knew Malik was crying. He couldn't see Malik’s face, and his voice hadn’t betrayed anything, but Leonardo had seen him like this before. “He’s safe now.”

“But he’s gonna have to carry this around for the rest of his life. You know how it feels, you were there. You still see the fire, right? It’s always there, in the corner of your vision. And the scars, those’ll never fade. You’ll always remember the torture when you look at them,” Malik’s voice trailed off.

It took a while, but Leonardo eventually realised that Malik had passed out, finally succumbing to the mix of alcohol and fatigue. Even after he realised, he still didn’t move, Malik’s words washing over him. _You still see the fire, right?_

Careful not to wake him, Leonardo picked Malik up. Malik had always been light, so Leonardo tried his best not to wonder if he was eating properly. Taking him upstairs into his own room was too much of an effort after the amount Leonardo had to drink, so he settled for tucking Malik into his own bed. They had shared a bed for several months after being free anyway, so it was nothing new to see Malik curled up under his blankets.

Leonardo wanted nothing more than to let himself fall asleep and forget everything for a while, but he needed to brief Altair on the meeting with Jacob Frye. Technically, it should have been the first thing he did, but when it came to Malik, Leonardo couldn’t focus on anything else until he was safe.

The house was quiet, which was to be expected considering it was nearly two in the morning, but Leonardo knew Altair would still be awake. Sure enough, the light in his room was on. What Leonardo didn’t expect, however, was to see Giovanni’s son sitting on Altair’s bed. It was impossible not to recognise him, not to see Giovanni’s clever eyes and angular face in the man sitting on Altair’s bed. Giovanni had spoken about him before, before he was caught; his middle son, Ezio.

“Leonardo,” Altair said from his desk, “how did it go?”

“Ah,” Leonardo tore his gaze away from Ezio, “it went well, Jacob and his team are on board. He’s coming here to speak with you in a week.”

Altair nodded. “Thank you, I know the trip wouldn’t have been easy.”

Leonardo nodded back, almost absently. “Um, what’s going on?” Silently, he blamed the alcohol for his bluntness.

It didn’t seem to bother Altair however, who simply smirked and raised an eyebrow. “Leonardo, this is Ezio Auditore, Giovanni’s son. He’s joined our cause.”

Ezio didn’t make a move towards Leonardo, to introduce himself or ask who Leonardo was, and his cold expression didn’t flinch. Leonardo tried his best to piece together why Ezio would be here now, but his mind was working slower than usual.

When no one said anything, Altair stood. “Actually, Leonardo, I’m glad you’re here, because I need you to do something for me tomorrow.”

Altair stood, leading Leonardo out of the room. He shot Ezio a small, reassuring smile, before shutting the door behind him and turning to Leonardo. “I know you just got back from a job, but I need you to do another one for me.”

Leonardo wanted to object, wanted to say that he could barely handle the amount of work he was doing now, but he could hardly say no. “What do you want me to do?”

“Ezio’s family need to be moved out of the Zones. They’re in danger here, but they’ll be safe if you can get out into the countryside. Preferably, we’d move them to Spain, but there’s no way you’d be able to get a truck all the way out there without drawing attention.”

Leonardo’s stomach plummeted. “I’ll be driving the truck?”

The truck was quite possibly Leonardo’s worst enemy in the universe. It was a breaking down box truck disguised to look like it was a cargo delivery truck. Along with the perfectly forged licence documents Leonardo has spent months on, the truck was his most strenuous project, completed with hiding places built into the trailer. Its purpose was to smuggle not only goods, but people outside of the Italian Zones and into safehouses throughout all of Nazi Europe. He had only driven it about three times, but he hated it with a passion. The only thing worse than travelling via train was travelling via an awful old truck that threatened to break down every few minutes.

“I know,” Altair said, trying his best to give Leonardo a sympathetic smile. “It’s stressful to drive the truck through the borders, but we need to keep them safe.”

Stressful didn’t even begin to cover the feeling of driving past numerous SS checkpoints and having to hand over false license papers, praying that you weren’t recognised and shot on the spot, but Leonardo didn’t bother to tell Altair that.

“When do you want them to go?” Leonardo asked.

“Tomorrow, the longer they’re here, the more trouble we’re in.”

Resisting the urge to flat out refuse, Leonardo forced himself to nod. “Okay.”

Altair paused for a moment, like he wasn’t sure how to say whatever was on his mind. Luckily for him, Leonardo had gotten very good at reading Altair’s mannerisms and expressions.

“Malik’s okay, he’s downstairs in my room. Today’s a rough day for him.”

Altair breathed a sigh of relief. “I tried to talk to him about it, but he closed off completely. I figured you would be the only one he would talk to about it.”

It was faint, but Leonardo still detected the hint of jealousy in Altair’s voice. He heard it every now and again, when Malik was hurting and Altair couldn’t do anything about it, but Leonardo could; when Kadar came to Leonardo for help instead of Altair; when Leonardo came up with a solution that Altair hadn’t thought of. It wasn’t a rivalry, because Leonardo honestly couldn’t care less about what Altair thought of him, he was just trying to survive. If Altair had a problem, he could talk to Leonardo like an adult.

“It’s not personal,” Leonardo said, “it’s just, I was there too.”

“I know,” Altair said, but it was clear that it didn’t change anything.

 

-

 

Malik woke up in the early morning, gasping and turning to cling to Leonardo for a moment, shocking him awake. It took a moment, but Leonardo eventually coaxed Malik to loosen his grip, murmuring promises of safety. Malik’s eyes cleared, whatever memories that had been clouding his head dissipated, and he unclenched his hands from Leonardo’s shirt.

“I slept here last night?” he asked, groaning when Leonardo nodded.

“It’s fine,” Leonardo tried to reassure him, but Malik was shaking his head.

“No, I thought I was getting better.”

There was nothing Leonardo could say to make Malik feel any better, so he settled for pulling him in close for a brief hug. Malik wasn’t big on being held, but sometimes Leonardo could feel how much he appreciated being sheltered from everything for a few seconds, no matter what was going on.

“I’m driving the truck today,” Leonardo said after Malik pulled away.

Malik stared at the ceiling, frowning. “Is that safe?”

Leonardo started to get out of the bed, searching around the room for clean clothes. “I mean, it’s as safe as it is any other day.”

“But you just got back.”

A pair of jeans hung over his chest of drawers, and Leonardo eyed them sceptically. “Yeah, but Giovanni’s family needs to leave the Italian Zones, and the best way to do that is in the cargo truck,” he said, almost absently as he searched for a shirt.

“Where will you take them?”

Leonardo pulled off the shirt he had slept in and grabbed the closest flannel button up. “Ah, probably a bit south of Milan, in the countryside. We’ve got a safehouse there.”

“Milan?” Malik said incredulously, “that’s a four hour drive through about four checkpoints.”

“Yeah,” Leonardo said distractedly, looking around for a pair of socks.

“Leonardo, are you listening?”

The sock hunt was fruitless, so Leonardo turned his attention to Malik, who was still frowning aggressively at the ceiling.

“It’ll be fine, I promise. I’ll be back before you know it.”

 

-

 

Leonardo was surprised to find almost everyone in the house awake when he left his room. Kadar and Lydia were sprawled across the couches in the living room, Lydia writing in a leather bound journal, Kadar doing his best to get her attention. Altair was in the kitchen with Ezio, and a young woman who could only have been Ezio’s sister was leaning against the cupboards, arms crossed, and a frown on her face.

As he got closer, Leonardo started to make out parts of their conversation.

“-not saying that, I’m just saying that it’s not safe for you right here now.”

“It’s never going to be safe for me, but that doesn’t mean I’m just going to be shipped off to somewhere they won’t find me. They were my family too, Ezio.”

“Claudia-”

“No. I don’t see why you think this decision is up to you. I’m eighteen; I don’t need you treating me like a child.”

“You don’t understand, this isn’t about being younger-”

“No? What’s it about then?”

Hovering just out of their view, Leonardo took the silence as an opportunity to enter. The mood in the kitchen was uncomfortable, Altair pointedly not looking at either of the siblings, who both had the energy of bombs about to go off.

Claudia Auditore was not what Leonardo had expected. From what Giovanni had told them about his only daughter, Leonardo had been expecting a soft and gentle girl with a warm voice and kind eyes. While Claudia was definitely as beautiful as her father had said, soft and gentle were not words that sprung to mind. She had the same fierce eyes as her father and brothers, the same angular face.

“Morning,” Leonardo said, trying to sound as cheerful as possible, but it came out strangled and forced.

Claudia shot her brother one last glare before storming out of the room, shoving past Leonardo on her way out.

No one spoke until Altair set down his coffee mug, trying to supress a smirk. “That could have gone better.”

Leonardo was waiting for Ezio to react in the same way his sister did, but instead he just shrugged, sighing heavily. He didn’t say anything, but Leonardo could see the weariness in Ezio’s whole body. Instantly, he felt bad. After having gone through his own ordeal two years ago, he sometimes forgot that some people were only just being introduced to the feelings of hopelessness and crushing loss.

“Want one?” Ezio asked Leonardo as he poured himself a cup of coffee, dragging Leonardo from his thoughts.

Nodding stupidly, Leonardo realised that this was the first time Ezio had spoken to him.

“So you’ll be taking Maria and Claudia up, and dropping them at the safehouse,” Altair said, “Ezio has insisted on coming with you to make sure they get there safe.”

Leonardo raised an eyebrow as Ezio handed him the coffee. “You want to come along for the ride?”

Ezio met his eyes without flinching. “I’m not letting them go halfway across the country alone.”

As much as he wanted to point out that it was hardly halfway across the country, Leonardo didn’t bother, he simply held up his hands in surrender. “It makes no difference to me if you come or not. I just hope you can handle being stuffed into a box for four hours.”

Ezio raised an eyebrow as if Leonardo had just issued him a challenge, but said nothing. Leonardo watched as Ezio took a sip of his coffee, eyes never leaving Leonardo’s, but a hint of laughter behind them.

 _This kid,_ Leonardo thought, _is going to get me in so much trouble._


End file.
